PREP FOOTBALL ROUNDUP : Villa Park Loses Its Grip but Not Game

Having done its best to keep its opponent in the game by giving away four fumbles Thursday, Villa Park High finally did a little taking to secure a 19-14 victory over Saddleback.

Grant Pearsall’s interception of Saddleback’s Danny Ruvulo with 29 seconds left in the game stopped a drive that had gotten as far as the Villa Park 36. The drive started two minutes earlier when Villa Park, attempting to run out the clock, lost its fourth fumble.

The first two led to Saddleback touchdowns. This after Villa Park had controlled the game with a relentless ground game and good field position.

Four of the Spartans’ five first-half possessions started at their own 45 or better. Starting on their own 45 late in the first quarter, Villa Park scored its first touchdown on a 54-yard run by Raymond Urias. After a conversion run failed, Villa Park held a 6-0 lead.

The Spartans made it 13-0 on another long run. This one by Don Bladow, who went 30 yards midway through the second quarter. It appeared the Spartans had a firm grip on things until they started losing theirs on the ball.

Saddleback’s Gilbert Guzman recovered a fumble on the Villa Park 35 with a little more than two minutes left in the first half. Nine plays later, Ruvulo lobbed a four-yard pass that Luis Estrella ran under for a touchdown with six seconds left in the first half. The extra point made the score 13-7.

Saddleback went ahead, 14-13, early in the third quarter, taking advantage of another lost Villa Park fumble. This one turned into a 10-yard scoring pass from Ruvulo to George Arceo.

But Villa Park came back with a 12-play drive that covered the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters. Quarterback A.J. Strapp completed just his second pass of the game with a 10-yard scoring strike to Bladow.